This might sound weird coming from Theo but he really really loved Vermilion City.

For all of its faults, the city was the embodiment of the Commonwealth's founding philosophy.

This was truly the land of the free where anyone and everyone has the chance to make it big.

Sure, this meant that even the villainous side of society could achieve success, but there were more law abiding citizens than scum in the city.

As such, more good things were produced in this chaotic city than evil.

This was the main reason why Theo religiously slaughtered the criminal scum.

Vermilion City was a gigantic garden. Theo's role was to remove the weeds to allow the beautiful flowers to grow.

And once again, he was happily performing his role.

Theo and Biajo jogged through the festivities in a relatively relaxed pace.

Their initial panic steamed from not knowing where the magical bomb was. Now that they knew exactly where to look for, the rest was a matter of slaughtering the enemy before the worst case scenario.

And even if it does come to that, the Machine God was there to clean up the mess.

The very fact that this enemy was considerably weaker than an actual angel was another reason why the 2 was slightly less strained.

However, that did not mean that they were thinking that this was going to be a breeze.

Aside from his trusty mace, Biajo brought with him the pitch fork that detected divinity, 2 sets of potions that would buff him up into superhuman levels and a magical 'bomb' that was meant to temporarily negate the massive mana output of angels.

As for Theo, all of his spydrones were already scanning the area for their targets. Aside from that, his Terminator was loaded with brand new weapons that were meant to fight the most dangerous opponents possible.

Will Breaker- A massive Terminator sized maul made by Nichola Rasputin. It was a shock wave emitter that would send bone shattering vibrations into anything it smashed into. It turned the insides of an enemy into paste.

It also emitted bomb level shock waves outside of its target, thus causing catastrophic damage both within and without.

Nichola has outdone herself with this one.

Predator Shoulder Cannon- It was a supercharged version of the Hand Cannon on Theo's left arm. While it was meant to fire 120 mm shells, its destructive capabilities were pushed to ridiculous extremes thanks to the large archon battery that powered it.

The main weakness it had was that due to the large amount of equipment needed to make it function, it was only a single shot weapon.

This problem was easily solved by combat drones dedicated to reloading the cannon.

Said combat drones were already sent to the battlefield ahead of the Terminator.

Last but not the least, Glue Bombs.

These were created by Jabir Ibn Hayyan to forcefully stop beings with overwhelming physical prowess with an extremely sticky substance.

The master alchemist used this on Theo and Nosferatu when they 'sparred' prior to the Alkebulan Nuclear Incident.

In this mission, Theo was not meant to kill the Angel. Only incapacitate it.

While their enemy was no longer what they initially expected it to be, it did not mean that the Glue Bombs were no longer needed.

All in all, Team Theo made sure to overestimate their opponent and prepared the necessary amounts of firepower for it.

For now, Theo and Biajo enjoyed their appetizer.

"Shall we go like 'Concerned Citizens' and 'Save the innocent from the rioters'?" asked Theo in a very sarcastic manner.

"Obviously! We are 'Law Abiding Citizens' after all." replied Biajo in kind. "Though are you sure about this Lorne? These idiots will have cameras to help them with their propaganda push. I'm safe since I dont exist in any records, but if they get it on camera, you're screwed."

"Hmm... Good point... If that's the case, I know exactly where our first 'rescue mission' is gonna be held."

"Lead on my young perverted padawan."

The 2 navigated their way through the many alleyways of the 69th district until they reached an area where a decently sized mall was located.

And as expected, quite a bit of rioters were actively looting the place.

Fortunately, there was a couple who were trapped inside their car while 8 masked thugs surrounded their car.

The perfect place to start their rescue efforts.

For now, Theo hid behind one of the many abandoned cars on the parking lot and used his M1 Garand to blow what little brains the thugs had out of their heads.

4 went down before the others realized that they were under attack.

By the time the thugs began to react, Biajo was already upon them and proceeded to snap them like twigs with his mace.

It was over before it even began.

Theo remained hidden while Biajo asked the couple about the situation inside the mall. Once that was done, the couple went on their way.

"What did they say?" asked Theo as he rejoined Biajo.

"All of the customers and sales personnel have already evacuated. Around 30 rioters inside. Most are on the ground floor. " replied Biajo.

"That's were most of the computer retail shops and the department stores are located. No surprise there. I'm heading for the second floor to get a mask from the costume shop. Want one?"

"No. I'm good."

"Very well. Let's meet up in front of the McRonalds."

"Roger that."

The two rushed in through the front entrance.

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Theo used his grappling arm and went to the second floor.

He didn't need to run far since the costume shop was only 5 stores away from the entrance.

Before entering the store, he shot the CCTV camera to ensure that he remained anonymous.

Once that was done, he chose the most fitting mask for the occasion, left some money for the mask and the CCTV on the counter and exited the store.

He donned his Hello Kitty mask and silently admired his surroundings.

Though the mall itself was nothing impressive, he could not help but feel a little nostalgic.

Was this place special?

To everyone else? Not really.

To Theo? Absolutely.

This was where he lost an eye, an arm and the dream of becoming a superhero.

This is the site of the Black Bible Incident that opened his eyes to the truth of this messed up world.

The mall looked nothing like its original form, but Theo could not help but remember that event that changed his life.

He visited this particular mall once a month to remind himself why he was this path of blood. This was also the reason why he was so familiar with the mall's layout.

He took a deep breath and exhaled loudly.

"No time to be sentimental. Got a job to do."

As Theo silently made his way through the second floor to meet up with Biajo, an incoming projectile made him jump into a nearby store.

Upon closer inspection, it was a head of one of the thugs roaming around the mall.

"Heh. Someone's having fun."

Theo continued on and eventually saw Biajo within a sea of blue clothed thugs who eventually turned red upon contact with his mace.

Said thugs wielded bats, knives and steel pipes as weapons, but these were no threat to a combat veteran like Biajo.

Theo was tempted not to interfere until he saw one of the thugs pulling out a Molotov cocktail.

He took aim and fired at the Molotov the moment it was thrown.

The bottle exploded mid air and showered 4 people in front of the original thrower.

The screams of pain and agony was music to Theo's ear.

The Molotov was probably these thugs secret weapon, because the moment that it failed, the cowards routed instantly.

They ran towards different directions in hopes that their comrades would serves as distractions for their escape.

Sadly, Theo and Biajo were skilled enough to slaughter them before they could disperse.

All in all, not a bad start for this carnival of blood.

Theo went to the ground floor to meet up with Biajo.

"Nice assist there Lorne. While I would have dealt with that fire bomb without any difficulty, watching those twigs burn was quite fun." said Biajo.

"No prob. Let's get something to drink before we head out to our next slaughtering grounds." replied Theo

The 2 went to a Happy Bee convenience store and grabbed a couple of drinks from the displays. Naturally, Theo punched the items into the abandoned cashier and paid for the items.

He turned to the CCTV near the cashier and said....

"Hey Lord, I'm not stealing any of your stuff okay? I paid for them in full, you got it?"

Not a millisecond later, his received a text message on his phone.

Lord of Vermilion replied with a simple thumbs up emoji.

"You know the owner of this store Lorne?" asked Biajo as he received the canned coffee Theo bought for him.

"Yep. If there's anyone in Vermilion City you don't want to piss off, it's the owner of the Happy Bee convenience stores." replied Theo while taking a large swig of his strawberry milk shake.

"Is he some kind of criminal mastermind or something?"

"Sort of. He's more than that though. If there's anything you want from this city, he's the guy to speak to."

"Huh... You have some interesting friends."

"That's just how it is when you live in this crazy place long enough."

"I'll take your word for it. Anyways, I've been wondering but why are the rioters wearing all blue?"

"I'm not sure myself. From what I've heard, blue was the color of some famous revolution in the country of Eiffel in the 1700s-1800s."

"So these rich idiots think of themselves as revolutionaries? Maker's tits! Delusional much?"

"Delusional or not, they have a bomb that could kill hundreds of thousands in one go. We better take this slightly more seriously."

"True enough. Let's 'ask' someone for directions then."

The 2 properly disposed their garbage and exited the mall in search of their next 'meal'.

Fortunately, they did not need to look far.

As they turned the corner, they bumped into a group of 10 rioters. It seemed they were planning to loot the mall as well.

"Excuse me good sirs. I would like to ask you something." said Theo as he stabbed the barrel of his M1 Garand into a thug's eye socket.

He then pulled the trigger to blow the head of the one standing behind the poor soul.

"We're looking for something in your groups possession. It would be nice if you guys could tell us where it is." said Biajo as he backfisted a thug into a wall while faltening another's skull with his mace.

Clearly these rioters were not expecting such a violent reception to their 'peaceful protest'.

By the time they could recover from the shock of violence, Theo's super heated whip arm has cleaved another 2 in half while Biajo's mace and pitchfork has found a home inside 2 people's skulls.

As they moved to eliminate the last 2 remaining thugs, Biajo's pitchfork began humming.

"Oho? A jackpot?" asked Theo.

"Maybe." replied Biajo while pointing the pitch fork at the remaining thugs.

It hummed significantly less when they pointed to the fat girl. On the other hand, it was significantly louder when pointed to the skinny guy.

"We don't need this one then." said Biajo before bashing the girl's skull in.

The girl's swift execution had the intended effect of making the guy very compliant.

"Do you remember handling anything big? It's about the size of a coffin and was loaded onto an Isuzu Elf. Ring any bells?" asked Theo as he pressed the bloody barrel of the M1 unto the guy's head.

The guy nodded in fear. He also pissed in his pants.

"Very good. Can you please lead us there? And don't bother doing anything stupid like lying to us. If you do that, I will make you hurt really really REALLY bad. Comprende?"

Once again, the guy nodded vigorously. This time, he shitted his pants.

Poor boy.

With their little guide leading the way, Theo and Biajo made good time in their search.

The coffin was located in the very last place you'd ever expected it to be in... a Christmas Display. Or more specifically, it was acting as an altar for an Ecclesiarcal themed celebration.

"Huh? Isn't Christmas still 3 months from now?" asked Biajo.

"The owner must be from my country. We get into the Christmas Spirit way too early. We even start counting down the number of days right around this time of the year." Replied Theo

"Your country? You mean SEZ #13?"

"Yep. My beloved third world country without a name."

Special Economic Zone (SEZ) were countries that were so ridden with debt that they were forced to sell their sovereignty to their debtors.

There were about 23 SEZs in the world with most of them being in the Alkebulan Continent.

Theo's country was one of the few in the southeast and it has been an SEZ long before he was born.

Apparently a certain dictator borrowed way too much money from other countries and pretty much everyone else were forced to pay the price.

Mind you, despite losing their nation's name, currency and freedom, it's not really as bad as it seemed.

If there were one thing #13s took pride off, it was their unabashed desire to have as much fun as possible as often as possible.

It was very easy to find joy in the smallest of things when you have very little to begin with.

"Christmas huh. I cant wait." said Theo with a smile underneath his Hello Kitty mask.

"This voice.... Is that you Bob?" asked a familiar voice

From the shadows Owen George in the standard all blue outfit of the rioters.

And as expected, he was not alone.

There were approximately 40 people with bats and even AK47s positioned around Theo and Biajo.

"Hello Owen. Interesting hobby you got here." replied Theo.

"Why are you here Bob? I thought this type of thing doesn't interest you."

"It doesn't. But Vermilion City is my home. When some idiot outsider goes around ruining my neighborhood, I am duty bound to beat the shit out of said trespassers."

"We don't have to fight you know? In fact, we're doing this for the less fortunate such as our masked friend here. Don't you think it's unfair for people like yourself to struggle with low paying jobs while the rich gets richer with your efforts?" said Owen

Based on how smooth the words came out of Owen's mouth, it seemed he has given this speech many times before.

"So? How do you go about changing this unfair system?" asked Theo.

At the same time, he hid his M1 Garand behind his back. He transmuted it, his pistol and all of the ammo he had into a thick piece of metal that fitted well into his hand cannon.

"We're going to force the government to take the money from the rich and distribute it to the poor. That way, everyone gets their fair share."

"That sounds like Communism to me."

"What's wrong with Communism? Everyone is equal under the law. Everyone contributes to the greater good. This is a win win solution for everyone."

"There are 2 reasons why I am firmly against your way of thinking. First: You and your group are destroying and looting the homes and businesses of those 'less fortunate' people that you were so passionately advocating for. That alone cancels out whatever moral highground you had. And the second reason is....."

Theo's left arm suddenly transformed into a gun-like machine.

He loaded the metal round into it, used one archon battery charge, aimed it at the group with the most amount of guns and said....

"... I happen to be a proud product of Capitalism."

Without so much as a hesitation, Theo open fired at the crowd.

As expected of a weapon that matched the 120 mm main gun of a tank, it instantly killed 20 and gravely injured at least 8.

"Time to teach you communist pigs the beauty of freedom!"